India’s equity market failed to sustain Thursday’s gain as benchmark indices - BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 – plummeted up to 1% on Friday. The profit booking took place as investors turned cautious ahead of the Q3FY25 earning seasons kicking off next week. Further, a weakling rupee and persistent FII selling dented sentiments.
The 30-share Sensex fell 720.60 points or 0.90% to settle at 79,223 while the Nifty50 settled in the red at 24,004.75, with a loss of 183.90 points or 0.76%. On Thursday, the two indices had gained nearly 2% each.
"The market concluded the week with a pessimistic note as a sell-on-rally sentiment prevails in the market due to a strong US dollar, high valuation, and investors shift towards a multi-asset strategy,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
He added that persistent concerns over FII outflows, a depreciating INR, along with signs of improving core sector print and reduced expectations for rate cuts in 2025, contributed to the mixed investor sentiments. As per NSE data, Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold (net) shares worth Rs 4,227 crore on Friday.
Market experts also feel that uncertainty surrounding US President-elect Donald Trump's economic policies and high valuations may impact the stock market in the short term, particularly in emerging markets.
Sectoral indices close the Friday session on a mixed note. The Bank Nifty index fell sharply as it was pulled down by heavy selling in HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, which ended lower by 2.53% and 1.94%, respectively. Energy and FMCG sectors ended the session in the green, while IT and pharma closed in the red. The broader indices - the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices - ended lower by 0.30% and 0.24%, respectively.
Wipro, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, Adani Ports, and Cipla were the major laggards in the Nifty50 pack. ONGC, Tata Motors, Titan, Nestle India, and SBI Life were the top gainers.